pafp mama's mockingbird ღ caring for the queens

Tending to the queens, as of late, seems to often be used as a punishment. However, she never really saw it as that. Perhaps it was because she liked the current two queens. Spiderbloom was nice and often stood up for her, and she truly enjoyed tunneling with Scorchstreak. Plus she had a fondness for Spiderbloom's kits, rambunctious as they may be. So when it came to chores, Whitepaw often made it a goal to visit the queens to see if they needed anything. One such occurrence was now, with the ivory femme carrying a bundle of moss, all while working with Bluepaw, approaching the nursery. "Spiderbloom, Scorchstreak? We're here to change your moss." She called softly after setting her bundle at her paws. She glanced over to the blue-furred apprentice beside her as they waited for a response from the queens. Aside from the occasional conversation back when they resided in the nursery and maybe once or twice in the tunnels, she couldn't recall having a full conversation with the other apprentice. "How has training with Sootstar been?" Came her whispered inquiry as an attempt to make conversation with her denmate.

//please wait for @BLUEPAW ! also tagging @Spiderbloom and @SCORCHSTREAK but anyone can reply after blue!
[I'M BREATHING][/right​
 
Bluepaw doesn't mind doing chores in camp. There's something comforting about the monotony, and it's a chance to rest paws grown tired and calloused from rooting around in the tunnels. The gray-blue she-cat has a mouthful of dry moss, padding alongside Whitepaw, who she's been tasked to assist today. Part of her doubts the queens need anything; after all, Spiderbloom and Scorchstreak had Milkpaw as their personal assistant now.

She had been shocked to hear the way the tomcat had challenged his mentor. And then the way he'd spoken to her father! She has never seen cats with that little respect before. Even the cats who are usually punished for being disobedient would not dare raise their voice to a lead warrior, much less Sootstar's mate. Even Moorpaw and Adderpaw have more decorum than that.

Still, Bluepaw does feel a twinge of sympathy for her co-apprentice. He's not only been assigned to help Spiderbloom and Scorchstreak, but he has to sleep in here too, which would be just utterly shameful. If the tom is nearby, she will give him a grimace of sympathy, though it's certainly tinged with disapproval.

She drops the moss, giving Whitepaw a glance as she asks her how it is training with Sootstar. "Mmm... it's great," she answers, and truthfully, it has been. Her mother is strict and is not easy on her just because they are queen and kit. Bluepaw adds, after a moment, "If I want to be like her someday, there's no better teacher." She tilts her head. "What about Ambertail? Do you like him?"

She will turn her attention to the queens once acknowledged, offering each a gentle blink from green eyes. "How are the kits, Spiderbloom?" She flicks her gaze to Scorchstreak, whose small size and immensely round belly has her looking almost comical. "How've you been feeling?"


[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]
 
──⇌•〘 INFO Wolfsong can confess to curiosity about Scorchstreak's pregnancy, mostly because he has heard that their deputy has taken a special interest in the nursery lately. It is tempting to ask her forthright, but he has resolved to hold his tongue for the time-being; it is not his business, and if it affects the clan negatively in some way, then it will be Sootstar's, not his.

For the most part, he visits the nursery lately out of respect for Spiderbloom and her loss, one Wolfsong still feels responsible for. It is the least he can do to poke his head in every now and then, to keep an eye on her kits when they're out and about. He's pleased to find Whitepaw and Bluepaw carrying out their duties today, and smiles warmly at them both.

"It was not so long ago that I remember you both here in the nursery," he comments. "Do you miss it at all?" To Spiderbloom and Scorchstreak, he inclines his head in greeting.
 
Spending most of their time in the nursery is a real pain in the calico’s tail. Spiderbloom and her kits are great—amazing, even—but sometimes a lady needs her space. And kits are not notorious for their respect for the personal space of their clanmates. She wishes she could be out traversing the tunnels, hunting rabbits, but she is also excited at the prospect of having her own kits, kits born and raised within the thick gorse walls of WindClan camp. The promise of raising loyal warriors, the promise of having a second chance at a family, is enough to soothe any restlessness.

The approach of the two apprentices draws her attention, and she smiles at them when Whitepaw announces their intention. She stands from her nest and stretches, tail flicking languidly behind her. "Oh, thank you." She could fetch her own bedding, but she appreciates the apprentices’ help now that she can’t move around as easily. And along with them appears Wolfsong, a tom who Scorchstreak respects and does not mind the company of—she offers him a nod in return, always glad to see a fellow lead warrior.

When Bluepaw asks her specifically how she’s been feeling, the she-cat snorts through a laugh. "Big," she admits, glancing at her own stomach. It is true; she feels impossibly weighed down, wider than she ought to be. "I’m feeling okay, though, given the circumstances. Milkpaw has been about as helpful as expected." With the rosetted apprentice assigned to helping around the nursery as punishment, she has found that it’s often more entertaining to request things of him than to do them herself.
[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]